USA > Kentucky > The story of Kentucky > Part 2
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"O though most holy and righteous Lord God of heaven and earth have mercy on me and help me to see the truth and confess it and grant me repentance and forgiveness for I feel that I have sinned in forsaking my father and mother in anger and help me that I may make amends for thou art mighty and able to help the poor afflicted that look to thee O Lord cause thy fear to be always before iny eyes and thy love in my heart to constrain me from evil I have been forgetful of thy mercys and my poor heart is hardened but have mercy on me according to thy loving kindness for thy great names sake."
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THE PIONEER.
The next paper is but an echo of the Litany, written in loneliness and peril, from that strange tired of the human soul to give utterance to the emotions which overpower it. And on the third, wallow with the years, stands this solemn invocation to the only power by which the soul of man is held steadfast in a time of strong temptation :
"O LORD GOD of Abraham Isaac and of Jacob have mercy on me and enliten my mind with the knowledge of that which is best suited to my condition and enable me to establish the rule of temperance in all things and to observe and practice that rule."
Were ever such earnest petitions put up in vain ? But deliverance seldom comes at once. Often the soul is thrown into still sorer straits. If you have stood the test of the fining-pot perhaps you are even worthy of the furnace.
Cabell arose, feeling much comforted ; and when, a few rods farther, he came upon a distinct trail, or horseway, so evidently cut by white men that it seemed like an immediate answer to his prayer, he felt as if deliverance were at hand. As he pushed briskly forward he fancied now and then that he heard the faint crackling of bushes close behind him. He kept looking back uneasily, and at last stopped, determined to have it out with his stealthy enemy before night came on, when the ani-
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THE PIONEER.
mal would have decidedly the advantage. He had only a few minutes to wait, when an immense wild- cat came out of the bushes and stood staring at him. He had heard of the power of the human eye over animals, and stared back as steadily; but the fierce eyes grew fiercer, the hair rose on its back and the bushy tail began to wag menacingly. There was nothing to do but shoot the animal, if it brought the whole Shawenee tribe down on him. But first he must prepare for a fierce battle should his first shot prove futile, for the American wild- cat is even more savage than the panther. He loosened his knife in its sheath and slowly raised his rifle. When sure of his aim he pulled the trigger ; the animal gave a wild leap into the air and fell to the earth, where it continued to flounder furiously. Another shot and it lay still enough.
Cabell now hurried on more swiftly than before, staggering under the weight of his gun and blan- kets, hope growing fainter as his step grew feebler, until at length he sank down utterly insensible.
When consciousness returned he found himself comfortably wrapped in a blanket. A fire was burning briskly near at hand, and before it a white man was seated, roasting meat. Cabell lay there for some minutes, trying to remember all that had gone before, and studying the weather-bronzed face.
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THE PIONEER.
It was a strong face, and not unkindly. But he did not long lie quiet; the smell of the broiling meat was more than a hungry man could stand. " Hello," he said, and the man looked around.
" Howdy ?" There was a kindly smile in the blue eyes. " A little hungry, ain't ye ? " and the stranger took the meat from the stick and handed it to Cabell, smiling at the half-famished eagerness with which the lad accepted it. "How did you come here? " he asked.
Cabell gave a brief account of himself.
" You've done very well for a boy," said the other approvingly.
"Boy?" broke out Cabell a little resentfully, "why, I'm nineteen."
The backwoodsman laughed, and as Cabell lay meditating what to say next he fell asleep again. When he awoke there was no one there and he thought he had been dreaming. He arose with renewed vigor, his weariness all gone, and began to gather up his scattered effects and his still
"A LITTLE HUNGRY, AIN'T YE?"
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THE PIONEER.
more scattered thoughts. "It's well I ain't an Injun," said a quiet voice behind him. "You'd 'a' lost your scalp, certain, young man. Are you ready to travel ?"
It was no dream then, after all. There stood the man who had befriended him, his rifle on his shoul- der. "You've slept twelve hours; better eat your breakfast now and we'll be off. It's five miles to our settlement."
" Which one is that?" asked Cabell, attacking the nicely-roasted wild duck he found beside him with keen relish.
" It's called Boonesboro', I b'lieve."
" The most important in the country, isn't it ? "
"No; Harrodstown is older. Mr. Harrod and forty others built some of their houses last year ; but the Injuns were so fierce they had to leave. And then Gov'nor Dunmore sent a messenger to warn the surveyors he'd sent out, of the prepara- tions for war at Fort Pitt "-
" Yes, I know ; that messenger was Daniel Boone," interrupted Cabell.
-" And we all went and joined Colonel Lewis and fought with him at Point Pleasant."
" That battle made it much safer for the settlers here," continued Cabell. " Old Cornstalk promised you shouldn't be disturbed here again by his men."
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THE PIONEER.
"All the same we've had four fights already," said the guide. " One just as we finished this road, when we lost four men, killed and wounded. The next day five more were killed, and one more in the next fight. But I think we've about finished that party," and the hunter smiled grimly. "Gov'nor Dunmore - he was too anxious for peace. One more blow and we'd 'a' cleaned 'em out."
" I think Governor Dunmore did exactly right," said Cabell quickly. " The Indians have been shamefully treated; their land taken and their men killed without provocation ; and when that grand old chief Cornstalk came and begged for peace, would you have denied him?"
"It was Cap'n Cresaps that killed the friendly Injuns," said the hunter, with a smile of forbear- ance which made Cabell feel very young; "and Gov'nor Dunmore's nephew, Connolly, he begun the war. Pittsburg belonged to Pennsylvania and was held by St. Clair, and Connolly came and took possession by force. Then he organized the militia and garrisoned the fort and declared war."
" Maybe that is why Lord Dunmore was so ready for peace; he thought the war a needless one," suggested Cabell.
" It was said the Injuns promised Gov'nor Dunmore to help him if the colonists should give him trouble," the stranger replied.
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" I don't believe it," exclaimed Cabell warmly. There was a long pause in which Cabell began to fear he had offended his kind friend.
Presently the hunter stepped aside. " Wait here," he said; "I've got a buck out there swinging on.a tree, if the painters hain't got it by this time." He was gone only a few minutes and returned with the deer on his shoulder. He refused Cabell's offer to carry it, and they went on as briskly as before.
Ordinarily Cabell was no great talker, but now he was full of questions; he asked about the peo- ple, the country, the customs, and each reply brought out a fresh query. He learned that there were about three hundred citizens in Kentucky, and over two hundred acres under cultivation. "Do you know Daniel Boone ? " he asked.
" Yes," said the other, looking grave.
" He's the leading man of the settlement, isn't he? "
" No," with a glance of surprise.
" Who is, then ? "
" Colonel Henderson, of course. He's the leader of the Transylvania Company. He went to see the Indians and bought the land from 'em; that's the first real purchase that's been made here. The British agent claimed to have bought the land from the Six Nations; but, as the Six Nations didn't own it, and if they did were never paid for it, that
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trade didn't count. The Cherokees and Shawanese gave up their claim to it in their treaty with Gov- 'nor Dunmore: but nobody paid the Injuns a penny till Colonel Henderson gave 'em that ten thousand pounds."
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" Boone was here first," persisted Cabell. " He was here alone a long while, and he knows more about this country than anybody."
" That's nothing," persisted his guide. "Colonel Henderson is the leader. He organized a legis- lature, and had an Episcopal preacher to come and hold service - under a big elm-tree."
" Are you Colonel Henderson ?"
" No; I'm Daniel Boone."
" Daniel Boone!" exclaimed Cabell, gazing at his companion with a thrill of irrepressible excite- ment.
A thousand questions sprang to his lips; but a new surprise prevented their utterance, for here they were at the settlement - a little cluster of log-cabins, that seemed to Cabell but a poor defense against the remorseless savages.
CHAPTER II.
IN THE BEGINNING.
T
HE cordial welcome he received at the fort, or " station," put new life into Cabell. The peo- ple there had never 3 heard of him before; but that was nothing. Boone's introduction was all sufficient: " A young man I found in the woods; walked all the way from Fort Pitt by himself, and killed an Injun on the way." They gathered round him to hear his story; they asked a multitude of questions. Did he know anything about the trouble between the Government and the colonists? Was it true about the battle at Lexington, of which they had just heard? Had war really begun ?
But Cabell had been a long time on the way; he had not even heard of the battle at Lexington. There had been threats of war with England for
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IN THE BEGINNING.
wo long a time that he could scarcely believe hos- tilities had actually commenced. For a moment he experienced a passing pang of regret. But to give up this new life of freedom at the very outset, to leave this glorious wilderness unexplored, to turn his back upon all its fierce and fascinating tenants; and go back to the irksome servitude of civilization, was a feat of self-denial beyond his present moral strength. He would write to his father at the very first opportunity and place himself at his disposal ; thus suppressing in their incipiency the first un- comfortable qualms of conscience.
The " station " of Boonesboro' was a continuous row of cabins with doors opening upon a central court-yard. Only about half the houses, which, roofs and all, were built entirely of hewn logs, were completed. Most of the men were away from home, hunting or surveying, but an arrival sufficed to draw the rest from their work. At night Cabell saw them all. They were for the most part rude, uneducated men; many of them mere adventurers or hunters attracted by the abundance of game ; some, honest, manly fellows seeking homes for their families, and, as in all new settlements, a few unscrupulous speculators drawn hither by the hope of gain.
Cabell regretted having missed the Legislative Assembly - the first ever held on that side of the
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Alleghanies. He wondered at the rapidity with which the legal forces had taken root in this new land. No sooner had they secured a scant shelter over their heads than they hastened to inaugurate the Law in all her majesty: It was of course the work, mainly, of Judge Henderson ("Colonel" on Kentucky soil). The war-whoop of the Indian was not more dreaded by Daniel Boone than was the paraphernalia of the courts.
" But if Colonel Henderson is the leading spirit," thought Cabell, " Daniel Boone is the mainstay of the colony." And he felt almost bereaved when Boone, soon afterward, set out for the Clinch River settlement to bring out his family.
The "nine commandments," as they facetiously called their nine laws, were much criticised by the grotesque-looking borderers who sat roasting their meat around the camp fires. Simple children of nature they were; bad, selfish children, some of them, resisting all restraint in the name of free- dom. The acts for preserving "perfect freedom of religious opinion " - which with them meant thinking and doing about as one pleased- and for " improving the breed of horses," met with unquali- fied approval; but the rest were "nothin' but trickery." Was it any business of the Rev. Mr. Lythe's if they swore a little now and then, or hunted on Sunday ? It was tyranny to interfere
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with their rights, that it was! They had come to "Kentucky " (that was how Colonel Henderson called it, though it was plain the Indians meant Cine-turkey) to get rid of all this law trickery; and here the very first thing the old line was drawn and they were ordered to toe the mark. "Look at them Puritans," they said ; "putting people in jail because they didn't think as they did. Why couldn't people be satisfied to go their own way and let other folks alone?"
There were other occasions for grumbling than those furnished by the law. Colonel Henderson was charging too much for the land. Fourteen cents an acre was preposterous with wages only thirty-three cents a day ! A dollar a day was none too much ; digging and hauling saltpeter and mak- ing ammunition was no fun. As for the land, they oughtn't pay anything for that. " It doesn't belong to Colonel Henderson, anyway," they grumbled ; "it belongs to the Gov'ment, and here we've paid two dollars for a piece o' paper that ain't wuth shucks!"
The wildest, most extravagant tales of personal prowess, too, were related around the campfires. Ben Bean had fought ten hours at a stretch against twenty Indians, shooting them down one after another, deluding them with his old hat into think- ing they were fighting against a whole army. Abe Jarvis had been charged upon by an immense herd
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of buffalo - five hund'ed, yes, a thousan'- and, with a skill and presence of mind truly marvelous, had succeeded in catching one by the horns and springing upon its back ; and there he stuck until the buffaloes had scattered far and wide, when he sprang off and shot the finest of the herd.
But the theme most frequent with these swag- gerers was their lineage: " My father was a raal Vaginny nabob, he was. Druv the spankinest four-in-hand, an' hed the most splendiferous pack uv hounds ever you seed." And, " My gran'sir wus a English juke. He'd a palace what covered a ten-acre field. and four hund'ed niggers."
" But they don't hev niggers in Britain," objected one.
"Oh! they don't, don't they? That's all you know 'bout it. Why, King Gawge hes ten hund'ed o' the blackest niggers ever you seed. Don't hev niggers, hey? Why, Bill, I'm 'stonished at yo' ign'ance o' g'og'afy."
At this Cabell burst into an irrepressible fit of laughter. The hector who had claimed lineage with a " juke " sprang to his feet, glaring with fierce eyes and doubled, drawn-back fist. " What's the matter with you, you blamed young whipper-snapper, you ? "
"Keep your seat, sir, keep your seat," said Cabell good-humoredly. " It's a pity the juke lives
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so far away ; he hasn't half a chance to appreciate his fine grandson at so long a range."
. Is that any o' yo' business, you good-fer-nothin' popinjay? Wus I a-sayin' anythin' to you? blast yo'- say? " and he aimed a blow at Cabell's face.
But Cabell, with his usual readiness, dodged the blow and immediately knocked the fellow down.
"MY GRAN'SIR WUS A ENGLISH JUKE."
"Give it to him, Tuggs: give it to him!" cried the bully's friends. But it was no use, Cabell's grip was like a vise. When he had thumped Tuggs's head against the ground a few times he released him. "There," he exclaimed, " I'll thank you to keep your fist to yourself, next time."
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" Hurray fer young Vaginny!" cried the fickle crowd.
Cabell had spent a good deal of his time, since his arrival, in recuperating his spent energies beneath the shade of the "divine elm," as Colonel Henderson called the immense tree whose hundred feet of shade had served the Rev. John Lythe as a church, and the law-makers as a capitol. From this the colonists rashly inferred that the newcomer was lacking in spirit; this denouement was therefore as unexpected to them as it was to the discomforted bruiser.
Tuggs scrambled to his feet, pretending to be badly damaged, and with a vindictive glance at Cabell went off scowling and muttering threats of vengeance. Cabell looked after him with vague regret. He hadn't hurt the fellow much, but he had wounded his vanity; forever ruined his reputa- tion as a fighter, and made of him an enemy for life. And all because he could no better manage his own temper than could the untutored foresters to whom he had hoped to be a shining example. Up to this time he had secured the good-will of his associates. Already they began to rely on his judgment ; and more than once he had made peace on the ragged edge of a quarrel; and a quarrel meant serious things here: black eyes, bloody noses and broken heads. But all that was spoiled
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now - for he could not make peace in his own quarrels.
At this juncture Colonel Henderson came hastily out of his cabin followed by two or three young men. "What's the matter here?" he exclaimed, with a judicial frown. "Who's been fighting?"
" The new feller, there, an' Tuggs," volunteered a rough-looking fellow, pointing at the culprit with a grin.
Colonel Henderson looked at Cabell in surprise. " Who began it ?"
" I laughed at him, if you call that beginning it," said Cabell coldly. To be sorry for a thing, and to confess it to a frowning judge and a malicious jury, are two different things.
" Who struck the first lick ? "
"I did," said Cabell, with a laugh. He really hoped some one would explain how it was; but no one offered him any assistance.
"Come with me," said Colonel Henderson sternly. He led the way into a corner cabin, where several men sat around on blocks of wood and knapsacks; books and pencils and large sheets of paper lay on their laps. In the center of the room was a primitive lamp, consisting of a shallow pan mounted on a stick and filled with bear's oil; its clumsy wick of twisted rags, contributed more odoriferous smoke than light to the scene. " Now
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let's hear how it happened," said the judge, sud- denly relaxing his severity and seating himself on his block, leaving Cabell the choice of standing or seating himself on the earthen floor. "How did you happen to strike Tuggs first, and -do him up so unmercifully ? " His smile of satisfaction convinced Cabell that he had only called him in to hear the tale of. Tuggs's downfall.
"Tuggs done up!" exclaimed a young man, springing to his feet. " Gimme your hand! I'd 'a' done it myself if I'd had the time." This genial, impulsive fellow was George Rogers Clarke, subsequently noted as one of the leading founders of the Commonwealth, and also her chief defender.
This year, in which there were only three or four battles, was called the year of peace. As yet there were no women in Kentucky. Slavery, however, had found an early start, several of the settlers having brought their servants with them. There were four settlements now, besides Boone's - Harrod's, Logan's, McAfee's and Kenton's; the · latter wholly unknown to the rest. In visiting one of these stations, Cabell, to his great joy, found his horse. It had occurred to him before that the thief might be a white man. He gladly paid the dollar the fellow demanded, and, mounted once more on his fleet Indian horse, whose every move- ment evinced an exultant joy in the chase, he gave
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himself over to the fascination of this untram- meled life in the wilderness.
Could anything be more beautiful than the vast, open forests, with their long, winding aisles of mas- sive trees ; or the wide plains covered with tall grass which rippled and flashed in the sunlight like blue steel ? The far-reaching glades were clothed in all the lavish opulence of rank red clover, in full bloom. What wonder that great droves of buffalo, deer and elk ranged these well-watered pas- tures where they fared so sumptuously every day ?
And those elephantine creatures of the past, whose bones Cabell had seen at the Big Bone Lick - teeth weighing ten pounds, tusks eleven feet long, ribs large enough for tent poles - he pon- dered much over their summary taking off. But he pondered only as a dreamer ; for no collection of these antediluvian relics was made until 1803; and then Dr. Goforth, who gathered some together, very unwisely intrusted them to an English adven- turer, who in turn sold them in London and pocketed the proceeds. Of the second collection, made by order of President Jefferson, a part was presented to Cuvier, the distinguished French naturalist, while the remainder was ruthlessly de- stroyed as " rubbish " by some unlettered patriot at Washington.
As Cabell grew acquainted with the wild crea-
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tures of the woods, he lost his fierce thirst for their life. Often he stood lost in admiration as the graceful deer rose from its leafy couch and paused in startled wonder ere it sped away on the wings of the wind; he watched the alert movements of the squirrel as it whisked about the lofty premises of its ancestral home. Once this young pioneer had worshiped Nature like a heathen; but now he began to see and to hear, in her glance and voice, unmistakable evidences of things unseen. Faith grew into conviction ; he knew that a living God dwelt overhead, and that this life was only a beginning. He became more humble and more serene. Whatever happened, despair could never touch his soul again.
In September Daniel Boone returned, bringing his family. Mrs. Boone, a comely, energetic matron, and her daughter, a lively, bright-eyed girl, received a most cordial welcome at the "station." Other families were expected in a few days. They had started for Kentucky two years previous, but had been attacked by Indians, and six of their party killed ; among the victims had been Boone's eldest son. In dismay the emigrants turned and fled from " the dark and bloody ground." But in the interval of peace their courage revived, and they now ventured back again.
Cabell's free and easy life suddenly terminated
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in an imperative call to work. The houses must be finished before cold weather set in; the corn must be gathered and housed. The summons was not entirely agreeable. At first he was a little ingry as well as very awkward with the axe which kept flying aslant. But by and by as his temper cooled and his muscles strengthened, his strokes began to go straight home. And long afterward when there came an undreamed-of time that re- quired the utmost muscular vigor, he was fervently thankful for this enforced training.
The rumor that both Governor Martin of North Carolina and Lord Dunmore had declared Colonel Henderson's purchase illegal, encouraged certain malcontents to appeal to Virginia, in the hope of obtaining land without paying for it. But the royal Governor had his hands too full already. He would doubtless have much preferred to cut a piece off the rebellious State rather than to add to it. He simply ignored the appeal. It was not until 1778 that Virginia set up legal claim to Kentucky, as a sort of border to her robe of state. In doing this she limited the Henderson purchase to a tract of land twelve miles square.
Neither would Congress, then in session at Phila- delphia, pay any attention to the independent little "Colony of Transylvania." This was the imposing name that had been chosen by the Kentucky
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colonists with a view, perhaps, to impressing the mighty Congress, into whose unheeding ear she breathed a wish "to be counted one with the colonies in the cause of freedom." At the same time, with diplomatic shrewdness, she expressed the utmost respect for the reigning sovereign.
In the midst of this political uncertainty an event occurred which warned them that no reliance need be placed on a treaty of peace with savages. It was the day before Christmas, and the whole set- tlement was in high good-humor. Mrs. Boone was engaged in preparing her little store of luxuries, reserved for this holiday occasion. Mrs. Calloway had dropped in for a minute, partly on a friendly visit and partly to effect an interchange of a few hoarded bits of groceries. She had brought a little sugar and wanted in exchange a bit of dried fruit.
" Dan'l says they hev jest oudlins o' blackberries an' strawberries an' raspberries here in the summer," remarked Mrs. Boone.
" Yes," returned Mrs. Calloway, "so Richard told me ; an' I says ' Why didn't you dry some?' An' he says, 'Didn't think uv it.' That's Richard all over ; never thinks o' nothin' 'less I tell 'im. I don't b'lieve he'd 'a' planted thet corn-patch ef I hadn't 'a' charged him, jest es he wus startin', 'Be shore you plant some corn, Richard !""
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BETSEY CALLOWAY'S RUSE. See page 53.
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IN THE BEGINNING.
" I wish I'd 'a' thought to charge Dan'l," said Mrs. Boone regretfully. "He's lived so long on meat he don't set much store on bread. He ain't overfond o' plowin', no how. Nex' year I'll see he wits in a crop." With which hopeful outlook for. "nex' year " she turned to her daughter: " Jemima, turn them turkeys !"
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